Beaten baby seal taken to Auckland Zoo

A baby seal. File photo / Anne White

Department of Conservation officers are "saddened" following a brutal attack on a baby seal which was found badly injured in a west Auckland stream.

Two men, a 39-year-old from Massey and a 22-year-old from Henderson, were seen bashing the one metre-long fur seal with a boat oar about 8pm last night, before leaving the bloodied mammal to float down Henderson Creek.

A Department of Conservation ranger and police were called and the men were taken to Henderson Police Station, where they made full admissions.

The men were released without charge but police and DOC are investigating the incident and charges are likely.

DOC biodiversity project manager Phil Brown said the seal was taken to the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine at Auckland Zoo, having sustained bruising and bleeding to the head.

It had been given fluids and antibiotics and was responding well to treatment.

"We're hoping the injuries are fairly superficial and no bones are broken," Mr Brown said.

Zoo staff would be continuing to monitor its progress.

Under the Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978 there are penalties of up to six months' imprisonment or a fine of up to $250,000 for killing or harming fur seals or other marine mammal plus a further fine of up to $10,000 for every marine mammal the offence was committed against.

Last month 25 dead seals, including pups, were found clubbed to death near Kaikoura. No one has yet been caught in relation to the attack.

In November, Harley McKenzie was jailed for four months for his role in an attack on a leopard seal in 2008 in which fist-sized stones were thrown at the seal and it was dragged around a beach by its tail. Two other men were fined $5000 and $7000 respectively for their part in the attack.

In 2005, All Black Andrew Hore and friends Hamish Wilson and Matthew O'Connell were each fined $2500 after they shot at seals, killing one, on the Otago coast.

Mr Brown said people who find seals should "enjoy the experience", but respect the mammals' space.

"Keep out of their way, don't go between them and the sea. They've got a nasty bite."

The exact number of fur seals in the Auckland region are not known, Mr Brown said, however numbers are increasing around the country. There are no known breeding colonies in Auckland but DOC receive many sightings of baby seals.

- with NZPA